Presidential Election 2017: Ruling AIADMK, Congress spar over AIADMK support to Ram Nath Kovind

Chennai: The ruling AIADMK and Opposition Congress on Thursday sparred in the Tamil Nadu Assembly over the former’s support to NDA’s presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind. However, it was a “white crows” remark by an AIADMK MLA which triggered the exchange of words between Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader KR Ramasamy and cooperation minister Sellur K Raju.

During a debate in the Assembly, Jayankondam AIADMK MLA JKN Ramajeyalingam said Congress would endorse DMK even “if it said white crows flew above,” alluding to a colloquial anecdote. Ramasamy objected to this and said his party did not behave like that.

At this point, he also took a dig at AIADMK Amma’s support to Kovind. “For what you have done, a big punishment awaits you from the people,” he said, possibly hinting at the ruling party losing future elections.

Minister Raju took exception to Ramasamy’s statement and said Chief Minister K Palaniswamy had extended Amma faction’s support to Kovind since he hailed from a “very backward community,” indicating at his Dalit background.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought support from Palaniswamy with the chief minister having consultations with senior colleagues before deciding to support the NDA’s nominee, Raju said.

“We are not a slave to BJP. In fact, we are neither a slave to anyone nor a boss to anybody,” he added.